


The Inferno's Blaze

by Fandoms_Are_Life37



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety Attacks, Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, Fear of fire, Female Reader, Natsu accidently triggers Y/N, Original Character Death(s), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Promise, Reader-Insert, Then it gets bad, but they end up together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:34:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25252447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandoms_Are_Life37/pseuds/Fandoms_Are_Life37
Summary: Y/N has a deadly fear of fire. Unfortunately, Fairy Tail finds out the hard way
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Female Reader, Natsu Dragneel/Reader
Kudos: 44





	The Inferno's Blaze

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: PTSD, violent fire, original character death (not Y/N), childhood trauma, angst
> 
> Word count: 3,463
> 
> Estimated read time: 20 minutes. What time is it? Is it 1:40 am or beyond? Go to sleep.

Y/N Reef was just like any other girl. Her physical appearance was nothing exceptional, with straight auburn hair that just brushed the middle of her shoulder blades, sea-green eyes, a face that didn't stand out, and her body shape was fairly average. She was a girl who's personality wasn't very unusual, either. She liked to read, talk to her friends, and draw- all very normal activities. Her morals and values were nothing uncommon in Fairy Tail: she was loyal and compassionate, just like everyone else.

But as ordinary, as she appeared, there was something special about her. Y/N was incredibly gifted at magic. She had learned ice magic and could wield it in ways that were nearly unheard of. Her skill and talent were so extraordinary that she could rival even some of the top wizards in Fairy Tail.

But Y/N had one huge flaw: she had an intense fear of fire. Ever since she was young, the fire seemed to represent everything that destroyed her, and she could barely walk into Fairy Tail knowing that Natsu Dragneel was there. This limited her, and she soon began to be controlled by fear. The terrified voices in her head said that because of the ancient rivalry between ice and fire, she might have to confront fire if she let her magic show. So she minimized her magic. To the guild of Fairy Tail, she could wield ice, but she was not good at it at all, Grey Fullbuster remained the ice mage of Fairy Tail.

Like any other day, Y/N entered Fairy Tail quietly, eyes down, and head bent. She made her way to a table in the back and sat down, setting her bag beside her. The guild was noisy and rambunctious, but Y/N basked in her corner of solitude.

However, her peace was interrupted when a fight between Gray Fullbuster and Natsu Dragneel crashed next to her. Ice shot out, and Y/N barely had the time to dodge. Her heart began to beat faster. Her mind went wild. Her palms began to sweat. Natsu Dragneel's fist was on fire, merely a few yards away. The fist made contact with Grey's arm, and Y/N could feel her whole body begin to shake, imagining that she was Grey at that moment.

More clashing ensued, but the whole world slowed down. All Y/N could see were the flames encircling the dragon slayer's hand. Luckily, she was broken from her trance when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the two brawling boys. Y/N looked over to see Lucy, a girl that she didn't know very well but seemed nice.

"Careful, when those two get started, everything around them gets smashed to bits!" she joked but stopped to examine Y/N's face. "Y/N, are you alright? You look a bit pale."

"Oh, no, I'm fine. Excuse me..." Y/N assured her and hurried out of the guild, a suspicious Lucy watching her leave.

***

Y/N sat in the guild next to Juvia and Levy, two other girls who were willing to be her friends. They were laughing about Levy's crush on Gajeel merrily. Ever since Natsu and Grey's fight got too close for comfort, Y/N had been avoiding the fire wielder more than ever, but when she looked up to see him walking towards the table, she had a heart attack.

Natsu was pouting as Lucy glared at him, forcing him to come closer. He finally stopped at the end of the table, but Y/N was already feeling sick.

"Um..." Natsu scratched the back of his neck, awkwardly.

Lucy loomed over him with a terrifying authority. "DO IT!"

"Right! Of course! Y/N, I would like to apologize for crashing into your table yesterday. Friends?" Natsu offered his hand for a handshake, but Y/N couldn't focus. His hand that could summon fire was in arm's reach. She frantically stood and backed up from him. "Huh?"

"Y/N? Are... are you alright?" Lucy asked, stepping past Natsu to approach the horrified girl.

Natsu stepped forward as well, saying, "Y/N?"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

The whole guild looked up, quiet washing over them at the odd sight unfolding.

"Y/N? What-" Natsu started but what cut off by Y/N's desperate cries.

"STOP!" She shouted, "STOP! GET BACK! GET AWAY FROM ME! NO!"

Natsu backed up, feeling his heart shatter. One of his guildmates was telling him to get away from her. The trust that Fairy Tail had wasn't so seamless, after all.

"Y/N, what's wrong? Did I do something? Are you okay?" Natsu gently reached out to her, but the moment he lifted his hand, ice shot forward and knocked him back. Y/N didn't mean to use her magic, but her magic was so in tune with her that it was embedded in her instincts. It reacted to her fear in an appropriate manner.

Natsu stood angrily and lit a fist on fire. "Hey! What's the big idea? If you wanted a fight, you could have asked."

Natsu launched forward, fire covering his being. To Y/N, that was the essence of fear. Her ice shot forward and knocked him back in a whirlwind of magic that surprised the whole guild. Natsu roared and cast a spell, "Fire dragon: wing attack!"

Ice slashed out and cut Natsu's torso, knocking him back with tons of force. Yet, he stood again and lit his fist. He walked calmly towards Y/N, determined to win what he thought was just another Fairy Tail brawl.

But as he approached, Y/N began to feel her senses shut down. It was impossible to look at anything but his burning hand. She stumbled back, lowering her hands. Her back hit a wall and she began to tremble, unable to do anything but be mortally terrified of the fire.

"I'm going to die... fire... fire... fire..." Y/N whispered to herself, only audible to her.

Natsu came closer still but stopped when he heard her pleas begin. "P- please just put out the fire! Just put it out, just put it out, just put it out..."

The fire died the moment he heard her request. She was his guildmate, it's not like this was a life or death fight. "Yeah, alright. Do I win, then?" he studied her closer and made a realization. "Wait a second..." he lit his hand again. "Is my fire what's bothering you?" He came much closer holding the fire a respectful distance, but it was too much for Y/N.

"NO! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT NOW! STOP, JUST STOP! PUT IT OUT, PUT IT OUT! NATSU, PUT IT OUT!" She yelled, pulling at her hair.

Somewhere, someone said, "Natsu, back off!" But Y/N heard nothing.

Y/N shook her head as hot tears streaked down her face. She sunk to her knees, screaming and clutching her head. The thoughts were overwhelming her, scorching her, burning her sanity, letting her happiness smolder.

Wendy Marvel ran to her side and ordered someone to clear a bed in Fairy Tail's medical ward. It was hard because Y/N shook and screamed as people tried to carry her, but they succeeded in getting her in there and using magic to knock her out.

But though she looked peaceful when asleep, Y/N's mind was devouring her from the inside out.

***

Y/N's blood-curdling screams when she awoke echoed throughout Fairy Tail's hall for weeks. They pierced the ears of anyone in the building. Horrific: that's the best word to describe them. Every moment seemed like her vocal cords were shredding, like the pain in her head was dissolving her skin.

The mages of Fairytail were always unsettled, and it was nearly silent in the guildhall, aside from her desperate screeches. People would sit at the tables, just staring at their drinks and listening to Y/N's demise.

Cracked screams ripped through the air again, making everyone look up at the shut door that separated them from Y/N. No one had really realized how important she was to them until they thought they may lose her, and it took its toll.

The loudest scream yet erupted like a volcano spewing its magma, and Levy stood up. All eyes turned to her. "I'm sorry, I just can't listen to it anymore!" Tears filled her eyes as she ran out of the guildhall. Everyone looked after her sadly, understanding how she felt, but they ultimately looked down and continued waiting in the dreadful suspense.

It went on and on, just like it had for weeks. In a corner of the guild at a long table, sat Lucy, Happy, Erza, Grey, Lisanna, and Natsu. They acted like everyone else, staring down at the table, only speaking when the had to (and even then it was a whisper), and ignoring their food and drinks. Natsu sat a bit further away from the rest of them, heart beating fast.

"My fault..." his voice was so quiet that almost no one else heard it, "It's my fault. My guildmate, my friend, my family, and I... destroyed her..."

Happy looked over and whispered so quietly that only Natsu could hear what he said. "You didn't know that she was afraid. You thought it was just a regular Fairytail brawl. It's not your fault, Natsu..."

He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling as though he would spontaneously combust at any given moment. For all he knew, he could. "No, I did this."

"Natsu..."

Happy was cut off from an even louder scream, a reflection of utter human agony. That was Natsu's snapping point. He shot up from his seat at the table and sprinted towards the door blocking him from Y/N. Although everyone told him to stop, he'd just scare her worse, he tried the knob. Locked.

Rearing back, he kicked the door down and looked around the room. Wendy, the Master, and Porlyusica looked up, alarmed. But he barely noticed them. He only saw Y/N, who was on a bed, but her hands and ankles were restrained.

"Natsu! What are you doing here? Get out! You'll only make it worse!" The Master commanded, angrily pointing to the door.

Natsu ignored the Master's order. "Why is she restrained?"

Wendy glanced and Porlyusica for approval, and the old woman nodded solemnly. Wendy swallowed and meekly said, "Well, we didn't want to, but she went nuts and was flailing around a couple of days ago. She may have accidentally hurt someone. But, Natsu-san, you really should go. She's unstable and-"

Whatever Wendy Marvel was going to say was completely cut off as Y/N struggled against the rope bindings and screamed. Her face twisted in agony and sweat drenched her face. Hoarse and crying, Y/N thrashed, bawling her eyes out. Suddenly, her eyes flew open, like she was waking up. Her breathing came out in heaves and more tears streamed down her cheeks, dripping onto her clothes.

Porlyusica came forward cautiously, and Wendy was close behind her. The Master tensed as if they had done this before and it didn't go well.

"Y/N?" Porlyusica asked softly. Y/N's neck cracked as she turned to look at Porlyusica. Something was off about her gaze as if she wasn't fully comprehending what she was seeing. "Y/N, it's okay. Nothing here's going to hurt you. You are safe, okay? Please calm down."

Y/N didn't seem to hear anything the old woman said. She muttered to herself in a cracked, choked voice, "Fire... fire... fire..."

"There's no fire here, Y/N. It's okay." Wendy comforted, but the grave expression on her face showed that she clearly knew Y/N didn't understand what she said. "You're going to be alright."

"Fire... everywhere... fire... FIRE! FIRE! HELP!" Y/N squeezed her eyes shut and started yelling, yanking at her restraints.

"Get the sedatives!" Porlyusica shouted to Wendy, who ran to the drawers on the other side of the room. She rummaged and rummaged, shut the drawer, opened the one above it, and kept looking. She stood on her tiptoes and stretched to shift through the items inside.

At the same time, Y/N started shouting, pleading, with the people there. "NO! YOU CAN'T! I HAVE TO GET THEM! I CAN'T LEAVE THEM! THEY'LL DIE, THEY'LL DIE, PLEASE!"

She went ballistic, throwing her body everywhere and crying. Porlyusica and the Master lunged to hold her down. "WENDY, HURRY UP!" they called.

Wendy searched another drawer and finally announced, "I've got it!" She ran over with a syringe full of a white liquid, which she injected into Y/N's arm.

"NO! NO! No, no, please, please don't, please..." She tried to fight back, but her struggles became weaker as she slipped into unconsciousness.

"Please... they'll burn..." was her last plea before she fell limp.

Master and Porlyusica wiped their brows and stepped back. Wendy collapsed into a chair and sighed heavily. As for Natsu, he slowly came forward, shocked at what had just happened.

"Master?" The dragon slayer asked, "who's the 'they' that she mentioned?"

"Beats me. That's the first time she's said that."

They carried on a calm conversation about Y/N and who "they" could be, completely unaware of the hell raging inside her head in the form of a nightmare.

***

Fire.

That's all she could see. Fire.

Flames rose above her head, smoke billowed into the air. Her tears were hot and sweat-slicked her skin as she ran through the burning forest. Dark patches dotted her skin where the heat had blackened her flesh. Ash was on her knees and bare feet, soot caked her face and hands. It was so bright, it was so hot.

Roaring towers of auburn terror rose and swarmed the trees, burning them to a crisp. As she sprinted over the uneven ground, her breaths heaved, smoke filling her lungs. She rounded a corner just as a tree cracked and fell down, surrounded by fire.

She rolled and barely dodged, sparks flying and searing the tips of her hair. The sleeve of her dress caught fire, and she screamed, trying to put it out as the fabric melted onto her skin. She succeeded but continued running. More sparks rose into the air, mixed with the smoke. The inferno's blaze was the only light in the darkness of night. It stained the sky oranges, yellows, and reds as it intensified, but Y/N kept running.

She stumbled over a rock, twisting her ankle. With a yelp, she came crashing into the embers. They burned her skin, sending waves of hot pain through her nerves. She barely stood and continued running, though a severe limp slowed her. She ignored the blood pouring from a gash in her leg and kept moving.

The dirt slid under her and she slipped, falling right into a blazing cluster of flames. It didn't hurt at first, but then pain like she had never felt before was crashing through her. Rolling out of that patch and on the ground, she was able to put out her dress, which was now ruined and had chunks missing along the skirt, waistline, and shoulders.

Yet she continued.

The heat of the flames had instantly cauterized the wounds. It was gruesome, but she did not give up. Moving through the forest into the heart of the wildfire, she finally saw her home. It was burning, flames billowing out the windows. Still, she ran in through the door.

"MOM? DAD? RICKY?" She called through the crackling of the fire. She searched for her parents and little brother, Ricky, but saw no sign of the adults. But the soft, teary voice of her brother caught her ear.

"Y- Y/N?" Ricky coughed from somewhere upstairs.

"I'M COMING, RICKY, HOLD ON!" She sprinted up the steps, though multiple broke after she stepped on them. She ran down the hall, past her bedroom where her things went up in smoke. She pushed burning boards aside until she found her brother, choking from the smoke, and trapped under a pile of rubble.

"RICKY!" Y/N dropped to her knees beside him, throwing things off. "RICK, WHERE'S MOM AND DAD?" She had to scream to be heard in the chaos.

"They left me. They said they didn't have time to dig me out and escape." He confessed, then was sent into a coughing fit. He had been crying as well, but the heat had dried his tears.

Y/N lifted the last rubble and helped Ricky out. They ran down the hall, but the stairs had collapsed, leaving them with one option. "WE HAVE TO JUMP! RICK, JUMP TO ME WHEN I AM AT THE BOTTOM, I'LL CATCH YOU!"

Ricky nodded. Y/N leaped down and landed on her hurt ankle. She crumpled to the ground but stood, swaying.

Shakily, she held out her arms for her little brother. Ricky trustfully jumped, and Y/N barely caught him. They left the house just as the ceiling caved and fell inwards, sending a million sparks flying.

The siblings took off through the forest where Y/N had run through just earlier when she went back for her family. They dodged fallen pieces of the woods and vaulted over fallen, fiery trees. The blaze was hotter, louder, deadlier than before, and they were in the middle of it.

Finally, brother and sister reached the part Y/N had been dreading. A rocky hill they would have to climb.

"WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO CLIMB! GO IN FRONT OF ME SO I CAN CATCH YOU IF YOU SLIP!" Y/N directed.

Ricky did as she said without question, scaling the rocks and boulders carefully. They were a fourth of the way there, third, half.

When they reached the three-quarters mark, a large rock gave out under Ricky's foot. It toppled down, and Y/N barely dodged it before she noticed her brother falling.

Instinctively, she grabbed his wrist. He was dangling below her, held only by her sweaty grasp. Y/N frantically struggled to pull Ricky up, but her hand slipped down, down, down...

"IT'S OKAY, Y/N! I LOVE YOU. DON'T GIVE UP!" Ricky told her. And then he was gone, falling down the rocky side into the hungry fire below, disappearing into the flames.

"RICKY! NO!" Y/N screamed, desperate to have him back. But he wasn't coming back. He would never come back from the inferno's grasp.

***

"RICKY!" Y/N awoke with a start, sitting up. Her restraints had been removed, at Natsu's persistent request.

Wendy, Master, Porlyrusica, and Natsu jumped, startled by her sudden outburst from her quiet but fitful sleep. The first three came closer.

"Ricky?" Wendy whispered to the Master, who shrugged.

"Y/N?" Porlyrusica murmured softly. "It's okay. You're safe. There's no fire here."

Y/N's eyes cleared, and she almost seemed alright. "There's no fire?"

"That's right, no fire."

Her eyes wandered the room but rested on Natsu. "NO! NO, NO, NO! PLEASE! LEAVE ME ALONE, NATSU! PLEASE!"

Hurt but determined, Natsu came forward very slowly. Y/N's panic got worse and worse, screaming, crying, shaking, but all of it stopped when he finally rested a hand on her arm.

"Y/N?" His tone was gentle like she was a china doll he was afraid to break. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you, I swear."

At that moment, Y/N's walls broke. She grabbed him and pulled him into an embrace, sobbing into his shoulder, mental and physical strength gone after witnessing the horrors of her past all over again.

Natsu was surprised at first, but he sat down on her bed and hugged back. She finally stopped and sat back, wiping her eyes.

"Y/N? Why are you scared of fire?" Natsu proposed the question everyone had been thinking about.

Her eyes softened and she slowly spoke. "It all started the night of my high school dance. I had gone and had a wonderful time, but as we were leaving the lacrimas opened up and reported on a wildfire raging through the Starlight Woods. My home was in the center. I left the dance and ran through the forest..." she slowly recounted the whole tale, ending with Ricky's fate. "...And I listened to him. I didn't give up. I escaped, barely."

The whole room was silent, and Y/N just noticed that everyone in the guild had gathered at the door and listened to her recount her history.

"Y/N, I understand that you are afraid of fire, and consequently, me, but I swear that I will never hurt you, I will never let you be hurt," Natsu promised and embraced her again.

And that was enough.


End file.
